Because the Kerry speech is so important, I’ve decided to see it the way it’s meant to be seen: On TV. Yes, I’ve come home. And, oh are my feet and back glad.

Sure, I felt guilty skulking out of the Fleet. But not enough to stay. At the Convention I can’t hear what the speakers are saying, and I’ve absorbed so much atmosphere that I’m pooping victory balloons. So, what do I get out of being there for another night?

I’m sure you’ll tell me.

I’ve seen the official excerpts of Kerry’s speech, released by the Democrats. How were these excerpts? Hmm, what’s another word for “boring”? Oh, yeah, I remember: “Bush wins.”

6 Responses to “Blogging reality”

I received one of those e-mails from someone about the Swift Boat Vets and I e-mailed them the NYTimes piece. I figured they e-mailed me, I’d e-mail them. I got another response from someone who wanted to debate the issue.

Unfortunately, I was placed on somebody’s mailing list and I responded. It is amazing to me that good men and women can accept this travesty as being truthful, without question! I merely wanted to show that there is another side, one which makes more sense to me personally than the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. Does the ghost of Lee Atwater HAVE to continue to dominate every American election? I guess if I receive, I am entitled to send.

As a veteran (’63-’66), I remember just how much disagreement there was in the military with Viet Nam. Not every American soldier thought it was a good idea to be involved there and particularly after the truth began to come out about LBJ’s manipulation of the American press and people concerning the Gulf of Tonkin incident, which “justified” America’s entry into that war. The fact of the matter was that soldiers admired those who fought, deplored the action of Ernest Medina and William Calley and, yes, even applauded those who were fortunate enough to find slots in the Texas or Alabama National Guard. Many of us do not fault GWB for his service in this “alternative” military, but we do deplore the sneering and vicious attacks on Kerry (read also Max Clelland) as being “opportunistic” or, as one commentator on the right has said, “unpatriotic.” The entire Viet Nam War era was traumatic for most Americans–families were split, brothers pitted against brothers, good people engaged in stupid acts and the rhetoric used by both sides was often assinine and non-productive. As a college student (after military service), I, too, sometimes felt that America’s classrooms were pulpits for the extremists, but I managed to come through it all with three degrees and no visible scars.

Those of us who are considered “on the left” are a curious mixed bag. We, too, deplore the extremist antics/philosophies of the “far, far left.” On the other hand, the constant assault by the Right and its sycophants that the “Left” is unpatriotic, stupid, ungodly and un-American is also deplored. What I fear is the polarization of American society–much like the Taliban in Afghanistan–which places dissenters in the ranks of “sinners,” ostracized from the very governments they support. As a resident of Florida–yes, where another Bush presides–I have been witness to various assaults on public institutions and individuals by the Right, which has appropriated God for their own purposes and whose “special insights” has resulted in good people being barred from participation because they “weren’t the right kind of people.” It is this tendency to create a monolithic society of “same” thinkers that frightens many of us. The slavish minions of right-wing commentators await each day anxiously to see what direction they should go according to Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, Sean Hannity or Bill O’Reilly. Diversity of thought and the willingness to be different has always been a hallmark of a vibrant American society! The “rush” to lockstep is more in keeping with the traditional perceptions of North Korea, Fascist Italy or, worst of all, Nazi Germany. I have seen friends of a lifetime–people I regarded as independent thinkers–surrender their will to the “mezzuins” of the right, who conveniently pack their heads with simplistic platitudes that, in the final analysis, amount to little more than advertising slogans. So, too, have friends on the left rushed to embrace every fanatical call that is advanced by Michael Moore, Al Franken, Bill Mayer and others. Like little lemmings, they go marching along–satisfied that someone has taken on the onerous job of actual thought. More than the policies of GWB of JFK, it is this abject surrender of individual thought processes that frightens me!

The question arises–“Where do they park their brains when they are not being packed daily by extremists?”

As a southern boy, I look at the current political situation and am reminded of the “jackleg” preachers that used to arise in our region. “Bubba,” that individual that everyone knew as a person of limited intelligence and which nobody would think to actually use his advice, has a “personal conversation” with God, who shows him the only viable Truth. Armed with this personal relationship with the Big Guy–(and, of course, one wonders why God would be conversing with the guy who graduated last in class and not the Valedictorian?)–is able to persuade otherwise rational people that he has the key to life and the hereafter. That is pretty much what happens in todays political arena! Some “savior” has all the answers–right, left, across or hold–it doesn’t make sense! For God’s sake, THINK!